help English · revision 1851

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725 (Beowulf)|origins=gem-pro *helpanan}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /help/^(Roach et al. 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb is [[inh|enm|helpen]], [[inh|ang|helpan|t=to help, support; benefit; cure]], a strong verb (past tense [[m|ang|healp]], past participle [[m|ang|holpen]]),^(Etymonline)^(AHD) from [[gem-pro|*helpanan]], a word of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) Its cognates include [[nl|helpen]], [[de|helfen]], [[non|hjálpa]] and [[got|𐌷𐌹𐌻𐍀𐌰𐌽|tr=hilpan]];^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(SOED 2002) Etymonline and Merriam-Webster suggest it may be related to [[lt|šelpti|t=to support, help]].^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Klein 1966) The noun is [[inh|ang|help]], [[m|ang|helpe|t=assistance, succour]], from the same source.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Assistance, succour; to help (Old English, about 725, in ''Beowulf'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The intransitive sense “to give assistance” is attested from the early 13th century, and ''help!'' as a cry of distress from the late 14th.^(Etymonline)^(MED) The original strong past tense survived until the 15th century as ''halp'', followed in the 16th by ''holp'', modelled on the participle ''holpen'';^(Hoad 1986) the weak form ''helped'' appeared in the 13th century, first in the north,^(Hoad 1986) and ''holpen'' survives in biblical and American dialect use.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) In older writers ''help'' could mean “to heal”, as in Shakespeare's “Do wounds help wounds?”^(Trench 1859) From 1584 ''cannot help'' meant “cannot prevent or remedy”, and since 1697 “cannot avoid” (''I couldn't help laughing'').^(HTOED) The sense “to serve someone with food at table” (1680s) translates [[fr|servir]], and gave ''helping'', a portion of food;^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921) ''help yourself'' as an invitation dates from 1894.^(Etymonline) ''Help'' meaning “an assistant” is Middle English (about 1200),^(Etymonline) but its use for a servant is American, from the 1640s in New England;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Bartlett (1848) called it the common name there for servants and factory workers,^(Bartlett 1848) and Weekley explains it as a way of avoiding the “humiliating” word ''servant''.^(Weekley 1921) ''Helpmate'' (18th century) is an alteration of ''helpmeet'', itself from the biblical phrase “an help meet for him” (Genesis 2:18).^(Hoad 1986)^(Partridge 1966)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English ''helpan'', ''help'', in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – a helper, an assistant.^(Etymonline)

+ * early 13th century – intransitive, to give assistance.^(Etymonline)

+ * 13th century – the weak past tense ''helped''.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * late 14th century – ''help!'', a cry of distress.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1584 – ''cannot help'', cannot prevent.^(HTOED)

+ * 1645 – a hired servant (US).^(OED 1989)^(Weekley 1921)

+ * 1680s – to serve food at table.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1894 – ''help yourself''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To give [[assistance]] to; to aid: ''helped her find the book''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To make easier, better or more bearable; to [[relieve]]: ''medicine to help your cold''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To further or promote.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To refrain from or avoid, with ''can'' or ''cannot'': ''couldn't help laughing''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(COED 2004)

+ # To serve someone with food or drink.^(COED 2004)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(help oneself)'' To take something, sometimes without permission.^(COED 2004)

+ # To wait on a customer.^(AHD)

+ # To be of use; to give help.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act of helping; aid or assistance.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A person or thing that helps; a [[remedy]] or relief: ''there was no help for it''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A person employed to help, especially a domestic servant or farm worker; such workers as a group.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Documentation available within computer software.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Interjection===

+ # A cry for help in distress.^(Wiktionary)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[helpable]]

+ * [[helpful]]

+ * [[helpless]]

+ * [[helpmate]]

+ * [[helpmeet]]

+ * [[self-help]]

+ * [[unhelping]]

+ * [[helper]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[helping]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary defends ''don't change it any more than you can help'' (“than you have to”) as a well-established idiom, although some grammarians object that the logic calls for a negative.^(AHD) It notes that ''help'' and ''aid'' are often interchangeable, though ''help'' can suggest more effectual action, while ''assist'' implies a secondary contribution.^(AHD)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}